Words Too

How many words does a writer write when a writer writes words? This is a question that comes up occasionally in the world of writing books: how many words a day do you write? I usually spend about 60-75 minutes writing in the morning before work. During that timespan, I can usually pump out a thousand words. I’ve had days where I’ve been on a roll and written 1500+ words and I’ve also experienced days where the thoughts don’t flow so freely, but I can still usually get 800 words on virtual paper. And then the follow-up question: okay, you can write a lot of words, but are they good words? That’s where this line of questioning gets interesting. When I write, I know I’m writing the first draft that will be followed by multiple revisions. Therefore, I don’t stress about trying to find the exact right word in a sentence. That way of writing probably makes some writers cringe. I’ve heard and read about writers who aim to produce 300-400 words in a day. No, they’re not exceedingly slow. They’re writing a story and crafting their words as they go, and that’s okay. Different people write in different ways. Those folks finish a book and have a lot less editing to do than me when I finish my book. The only way one of those methods is wrong would be because a writer is trying to write differently than they’re wired. If I tried to output a small word count each day, I’d lose a lot of creativity and flow. As with most things in the world of writing, a person should decide what works best for them. If I didn’t have a day job and wrote for several hours each day, like in the morning, I’m sure I could produce 5k words/day and more. Which would be kind of awesome, since with that rate I could write a novel in less than a month. Maybe someday…in the world of retirement.